Working bees

There will be NO Saturday working bee for November, December or January.

Shade house update

We were offered an old shade house that was no longer being used. We removed all the shade cloth, weed matting and an irrigation system. We were very pleased to get this and had a really enjoyable working bee in the country. Plans are being drawn up for our shade house so that we can present it to get permission to erect it on the site we have in mind.

Double clip on the photos to enlarge

Track upgrade

Hamilton City Council has given priority to building a walkway to give walkers access to the wet gully floor under the willow canopy. A DOC spec. set of steps have been built to give access beside the eastern side of the walk bridge, a track across the grass area cut with a small digger and a “floating” board walk constructed to float on the mud. The design of the floating board walk was established after a trial in the muddiest part of our gully.

This trial proved very successful which gave us confidence that the board walk we have built will be successful. We have an excellent working relationship with Hamilton City Council. In this project they supplied

all the materials and our group did all the labour.

There is still some finishing off to do to the track upgrade.

Bat monitoring

In October Mangaiti Gully was part of a city wide survey to establish the location of Pekapeka, Long-tailed Bat colonies. Seven electronic detectors were put in our gully for four nights but unfortunately nothing was recorded. Although we were forever hopeful the result was not that surprising. The known colonies tend to be located in the southern part of the city.

Rainbow Skinks

The Rainbow Skink is an Australian import and has become a pest because of their ability to breed prolifically in New Zealand. Check this link for details http://tinyurl.com/8x4dbtv . If you find one you should kill it. If anyone sees one could you please send us an email. Thanks.

Mortimer’s Book

Waikato Environment Centre donated a copy of the book Trees and their Bark by John and Bunny Mortimer to our group. This is now available for borrowing. Contact Rex Bushell 854-0973.

Weed control Season

With the winter planting of 2768 native trees/plants behind us weed control becomes a priority with the onset of the spring flush. We are focusing on mulching the grass open areas with a regular supply of donated mulch (see the photo above with the digger in it). This is to retain the ground moisture during the summer dry period and to suppress the weeds.